The government is looking to raise GH¢6.353 billion in the upcoming treasury bills auction this week.
Following the swearing-in of President John Dramani Mahama, the recent treasury bills auction on January 10, 2025, saw a significant oversubscription.
The auction garnered bids totaling GH¢8.075 billion, surpassing the initial target of GH¢5.198 billion by GH¢2.877 billion.
As per the results disclosed on January 13, 2025, the government secured GH¢5.514 billion from the 91-day treasury bill, GH¢1.417 billion from the 182-day bill, and GH¢1.145 billion from the 365-day bill.
All bids submitted for this week’s auction were approved.
The interest rates for the latest auction were pegged at 28.33% for the 91-day bill, 28.96% for the 182-day bill, and 30.17% for the 365-day bill.
Due to its restricted access to global capital markets, the government has increasingly turned to treasury bills as a key method of financing its fiscal needs.
Investor interest in Treasury bills has seen a significant decline of 25.27% this week, as the government failed to meet its issuance target.
Recent auction results from the Central Bank revealed that the government fell short by GH₵1.4 billion in its Treasury bill auction.
This comes on the heels of a previous week when the government had successfully surpassed its target.
By the end of this week’s auction, the government managed to secure GH₵4.3 billion from its short-term instruments, falling short of the targeted GH₵5.8 billion.
While demand for 91- to 364-day bills decreased, all investor bids submitted were fully accepted. The government accepted the complete GH₵3.7 billion tendered for the 91-day bills, as well as the GH₵441 million bids for the 182-day bills and GH₵175 million for the 364-day bills.
Market analysts pointed to shifting market conditions and the government’s ambitious auction target as reasons for the under-subscription.
Despite the reduced demand, yields on Treasury bills remained stable, with interest rates averaging between 24% and 28%.
Looking forward, the government plans to raise its borrowing target to GH₵5.5 billion in the upcoming Treasury bill auction.
The US Embassy in Ghana has announced plans to auction surplus properties, including vehicles, to the public.
In a post shared on X on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, the embassy revealed that the online auction is scheduled to run from Monday, February 26, 2024, to Wednesday, February 28, 2024.
According to the announcement, interested individuals can participate in the auction by submitting bids online at https://online-auction.state.gov.
Bidding will commence at 8:00 am on February 26, 2024, and conclude at 8:00 pm on February 28, 2024.
“The US Embassy will conduct an online auction of surplus properties and vehicles. Bidding opens at 8:00 am on Feb 26, 2024, and closes at 8:00 pm on Feb 28, 2024.
“All bids must be submitted online at https://online-auction.state.gov. Instructions for bidding and the lots available for purchase can also be viewed on this site,” part of the post reads.
The embassy also mentioned that physical viewing of the auction items, including vehicles, will be possible at its Accra premises on Thursday, February 22, and Friday, February 23, 2024, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm each day.
It emphasized that there is no warranty for all auction items and encouraged inquiries to be directed to accraonlineauction@state.gov.
The U.S. Embassy will conduct an online auction of surplus properties and vehicles. Bidding open at 8:00am on Feb 26, 2024 and closes at 8:00pm on Feb 28, 2024. All bids must be submitted online at https://t.co/rGWQBTpa2c. Instructions for bidding and the lots available for… pic.twitter.com/cOXedxPE5P
In spite of the increasing interest rates, the latest treasury bills auction conducted by the government witnessed a remarkable oversubscription of 19.58%.
The auction successfully raised a total of GH¢2.13 billion from the 91-day and 182-day bills.
According to the results released by the Bank of Ghana, all the bills tendered during the auction were accepted.
Interest rates have climbed to 24.68% for the 91-day bill and 26.4% for the 182-day bill.
The initial target set for the auction was GH¢1.778 billion.
On the other hand, no bids were submitted for the 364-day bills.
For the 91-day bill, bids worth GH¢1.81 billion were accepted, while the 182-day bill accepted bids worth GH¢313.59 million.
Despite the upward trend in interest rates, the government has set an ambitious target of GH¢2.664 billion for its next auction.
Government earns GH2.79 billion this week through the sale of treasury notes in its most recent auction on June 12, 2023.
The auction saw an oversubscription of GH¢168.53 million even though interest rates have been rising.
The target for this week’s auction was GH¢2.63 billion. Also, interest rates have increased to an average of between 21.26% to 27.82%.
According to the auction results from the Central Bank, the government secured GH¢1.50 billion from the 91-day bill, GH¢982.71 million from the 182-day bill, and GH¢308.36 million from the 364-day bill.
Interest rates, however, increased from 20.25% to 21.26% for the 91-day bill, 22.82% to 23.95% for the 182-day bill, and 27.36 to 27.82 for the 364-day bill.
The oldest most complete Hebrew Bible has been bought at Sotheby’s New York for $38.1m (£30.6m), becoming the most valuable manuscript sold at auction.
The Codex Sassoon is thought to have been written about 1,100 years ago.
It is the earliest surviving example of a single manuscript containing all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible with punctuation, vowels and accents.
US lawyer and former ambassador Alfred Moses bought it for the ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, Israel.
“The Hebrew Bible is the most influential in history and constitutes the bedrock of Western civilisation,” Mr Moses said in a statement.
“I rejoice in knowing that it belongs to the Jewish people. It was my mission, realising the historic significance of Codex Sassoon, to see it resides in a place with global access to all people.”
It is the oldest single manuscript containing all books of the Hebrew Bible with their punctuation, vowels, and accents
The winning bid exceeded the $30.8m paid by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 1994 for the Codex Leicester, Leonardo da Vinci’s scientific notebook.
But it fell short of the record for a historical document sold at auction set by hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who bought a first-edition printed copy of the US Constitution for $43.2m two years ago.
The Codex Sassoon is named after a previous owner, David Solomon Sassoon, who acquired it in 1929 and assembled the largest and most important private collection of Hebrew manuscripts in the world at his home in London.
The text of the Hebrew Bible – whose 24 books make up what Christians call the Old Testament – remained in flux until the early Middle Ages, when Jewish scholars known as Masoretes began to create a body of notes that standardised it.
The Aleppo Codex, which was assembled around 930, is considered the most authoritative Masoretic text. However, damage from a fire in the Syrian city of Aleppo in 1947 means that only 295 of the original 487 pages survive today.
The Codex Sassoon, which carbon dating shows was created around 900, is missing only 12 pages, according to Sotheby’s.
“It presents to us the first time an almost-complete book of the Hebrew Bible appears with the vowel points, the cantillation and the notes on the bottom telling scribes how the correct text should be written,” Sharon Mintz, senior Jewish artefact specialist at the auction house, said in March.
Centuries of annotations and inscriptions reveal that the manuscript was sold by a man named Khalaf ben Abraham to Isaac ben Ezekiel al-Attar, who later transferred ownership to his two sons, Ezekiel and Maimon.
In the 13th Century, the codex was dedicated to a synagogue in Makisin, in north-eastern Syria.
After the town was destroyed by either by the Mongols later in the 13th Century or by the Timurids at the start of the 15th Century, the manuscript was entrusted for safekeeping to Salama ibn Abi al-Fakhr. It then disappeared in history for 500 years.
The Codex Sassoon’s most recent owner was Swiss investor Jacqui Safra, who bought it for £2m ($2.5m) at auction in London in 1989.
Government will on May 19, 2023, hold an auction to buy treasury bills for GH2.732 billion.
The target is anticipated to be produced by the treasury bills with maturities of 91, 182, and 364 days.
In its most recent auction on May 15, 2023, the government this week sold Treasury Bills for GHC 2.78 billion.
The target for the auction was GH¢3.33 billion.
Even though this was a bit higher than what the government got last week, it was GH¢550 million short of the target.
Interest rates have also slightly increased to an average of between 20.43 percent to 27.59 percent.
According to the auction results from the Central Bank, the government secured GH¢2.31 billion from the 91-day bill, GH¢355.26 million from the 182-day bill, and GH¢115.60 million from the 364-day bill.
Interest rates, however, increased from 20.25 percent to 20.43 for 91-day bills from 22.82 percent to 22.96 percent for the 182-day bill, and from 27.36 percent to 27.59 percent for the 364-day bill.
However, the Minister of State responsible for Finance, Mohammed Amin Adam has disclosed that the International Monetary Fund will likely approve the first tranche of a $600 million loan for Ghana by Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
According to him, the government expects the IMF Executive Board to approve the credit facility after meeting all pre-conditions and requirements particularly after financing assurances have been granted by official creditors, China and the Paris Club.
“We expect a deal on Wednesday. With the disbursement, there is going to be $600 million as a first tranche just immediately after the approval,” he told Reuters via phone.
Dr Amin Adam was however optimistic that the funds will be disbursed into the Bank of Ghana account within a week of the IMF Board’s approval.
Online viewers pointed out that some of the pre-owned items weren’t a deal because they were going for prices higher than retail.
The most expensive item ever sold was a statue of the iconic bird logo from Twitter, which sold for $100,000 (£81,000).
Online viewers pointed out that some of the pre-owned items weren’t a deal because they were going for prices higher than retail.
Following his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last year, owner Elon Musk is cutting expenses at the company with the sale.
Since taking over in late October, Musk has laid off around half of the company’s 7,500 staff. He has also ended many of Twitter’s perks, such as free meals.
Heritage Global Partners, the auction’s administrator, did not publish the auction’s final results, but the BBC has collected several prices just before closing.
A 190cm (6ft) planter in the shape of an @ symbol finished near $15,000 (£12,160).
A planter shaped like the @ symbol
There was also a custom reclaimed wood conference room table that closed near $10,500 (£8,510).
Wooden table in Twitter office
From its former coffee bar, Twitter sold a high-end La Marzocco Strada 3 espresso machine, retail $30,000 (24,300), for around $13,500 (£10,940).
A high-end La Marzocco espresso machine
On the lower end, Polycom conference call speaker phones were going for about $300.
Polycom phone
A still-in-box ergonomic standing desk kit was looking to fetch about the same with two hours left to bid.
But some items seemed to sell for more than their street value – a moulded plywood Eames chair from designer Herman Miller that normally retails for $1195 went for at least $1400.
Musk tweeted in November that the company had seen a “massive drop in revenue” following the departure of several advertisers.
Nick Dove, a representative of Heritage Global Partners, the company administering the auction, told Fortune magazine the sale had nothing to do with recouping costs for the $44bn purchase, however.
“If anyone genuinely thinks that the revenue from selling a couple computers and chairs will pay for the mountain there, then they’re a moron,” he said.
An auction house in Belgiumwas forced to cancel the sale of three skulls of Africans killed during the colonial period in what is now modern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The skulls – belonging to people killed between January 1893 and May 1894 – were put up for sale by Vanderkindere auction house in Brussels.
It has sparked anger in the country and on social media with human rights organisations calling it “dehumanising and racist”.
The rights group called Collectif Mémoire Coloniale et Lutte contre les Discriminations (CMCLD) has called for a rally in Brussels to denounce the sale, and for the human skulls to be seized by the authorities and “conserved in an appropriate way and with dignity”.
The auction house has now cancelled the sale and apologised.
“We do not in any way condone the suffering and humiliation suffered by the peoples who were victims of these colonial acts,” Vanderkindere said.
The auction house added: “Once again, we express our deepest regrets to anyone who has been hurt and injured by the sale of this lot.”
Human rights groups warned that such a sale could have taken place because there is no law in the country against it.
Police in New Zealand is looking into the matter after a family discovered human remains inside bags they had bought at an auction from a storage facility.
After unloading their purchases at home, the residents of a South Auckland home discovered the horrifying discovery.
Police have opened a homicide investigation and are looking for the remains’ identity.
It is assumed that the family was not a part of the incident.
It is believed that the family visited the storage facility last Thursday and bought a trailer-load of belongings, which included the luggage, from a nearby storage business.
The discovery was made after the residents brought the property back to their home, detective inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua said.
Several neighbors of the family also reported a “wicked smell” emanating from the property before police arrived, according to Stuff.
One neighbor – a former worker at a crematorium – said the smell was immediately recognizable.
“I knew straight away and I thought, where is that coming from?” he said, referring to the residents’ property.
Another neighbor said her son had spotted a suitcase being offloaded from the trailer before being placed in a forensic tent that had been erected around the premises.
Footage published on New Zealand news outlet Stuff showed a trailer parked on the front driveway of the property, located in the suburban area of Clendon Park, as police carried out their investigations.
A former aspiring youth organizer for the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP in the North East Region Godwin Nayaw Bamiah Yombu has defrauded a number of people to the tune of GhC100,000 under the pretext of securing them auction vehicles.
The victims some of whom are members of the NPP paid amounts ranging from GHC7,500 to GHC18,000 to Godwin who according to them claimed was a special aide to deputy chief of staff Samuel Abu Jinapor and Executive secretary to the President Nana Asante Bediatuo. The victims, all males, said they gave the amounts to Godwin at the Jubilee House.
They were later made to wait at the reception while Godwin went in to see his bosses. He returned with that story chits for the vehicles were not ready. The victims after the payments were taken to the Tema harbor by Godwin ostensibly to select a vehicle of their choice out of many packed there. Auction day came only for the victims to look on at the Tema port for others to be given their chosen vehicles one after the other. One victim told Starr News he paid for 2 cars but yet to get hold of Godwin months after parting with the money.
â€I paid 18,500 for 2 vehicles. I got to know him through a cousin of mine in Saudi [Saudi Arabia]. He is my cousin so he asked me to crosscheck. So I made the payment to Godwin through her. When we met him he [Godwin] said he worked at the flagstaff house and was in contact with Abu Jinapor. So the money was paid outside the flagstaff house, at the car park and then we went inside to wait for him at a waiting area. Fifteen minutes later Godwin came back and said he was working on the chit and that we can go back. But the money I gave him was in dollars so he said he had to go and change the money first and I agreed so we all left. It was 16,000 in cash. So 4 days later he called asking for the balance but I refused initially. I paid the balance and since then he has been making excuses whenever we call. â€
Another victim narrates how Godwin uses names of NPP bigwigs to extract the amounts from his victims.
â€My brother who is a friend of Godwin introduced us to him. So we went to the harbor to select the car we want then from there we made the payment at the flagstaff house about 10 of us. We were told he deals with Abu Jinapor, Sammy Awuku and Nana Bediatuo but we never met them. The overall amount would be over 100,000 cedis, I paid for two other people, I personally paid 8,500 and the other deposited 2,000. He only showed us a flyer of him contesting for North-East NPP youth organizer. He said because he did not win, he was in charge of the auction cars. We trusted him because he met him at the reception of the flagstaff house â€.
A mechanic who whose services were employed to inspect one of the said cars ended up paying 7,500 cedis a car he never had.
â€I was a mechanic for Mr. Abu. I went there [harbor] to check a car for them. The whole story is that they are selling it if you are interested then you pay the amount. So I went and I checked his own for him and I also asked can I get one? He said yes. So he charged me for my own. But I was told I had to take mine for bodyworks so they said my own was 8,500 cedis so I paid the money that particular day to Godwin. Abu also paid 19,000 cedis. He even took us to the flagstaff House. We went there he asked us to sit at the reception and he entered for sometime before he came out with a story the chits will be ready in days for us to go for our cars.â€
According to the victims, a promise by Godwin to refund their monies has not been redeemed for months now.
When Starr News contacted Godwin Nayaw Bamiah Yombu he declined comments on the allegations.
Bidders at the auctioning of vehicles belonging to defunct Savings and Loans and Microfinance companies have expressed discontentment at the pricing.
Patrons at the event which took place in Accra told GhanaWeb the process used by the auctioneers was questionable.
They believe the exercise is a mere front adopted by the receiver because the law mandates it to do so.
Some bidders complained about the marginal price difference between the auction cars and sales at various garages in the country.
Many factors were weighed-in on the pricing, said Philomena Kuzoe, a spokesperson for the Receiver of the defunct Savings and Loans companies.
She explained that cars were “valued by professional valuers. We got our values from STC and they came up with the figuresâ€.
“I believe that it is a free market and bidders are not obliged to patronize cars which are beyond their budgetâ€, she added.
Kuzoe further stated that unsold cars will be re-valued by the valuators and added to future auctions
She dismissed issues raised by bidders on getting no chance to see the vehicles before day of auction.
“We made a huge advertisement across different media for three days viewing of the vehicles. For those who were really interested and wanted to buy they went there and inspected the cars before the auction day.
“For those who could not inspect the cars before the auction days were allowed to bid and also given the opportunity to see the product before making payments,†she added.
The money the receiver makes from auctioning the vehicles will be used to pay the affected customers of the defunct companies.
A statement released by the receiver said the exercise is in accordance with its mandate to secure all assets of the affected companies and maximize their realizations for the benefit of creditors.
Spokesperson for Receiver of the defunct Savings and Loans companies, Philomena Kuzoe, says vehicles that fail to sell at the ongoing auctioning will be revalued for future sales.
Her comments come on the back of bidders expressing dissatisfaction at the pricing of the vehicles on display at the auctioning exercise.
Over 100 vehicles belonging to defunct Savings and Loans companies have been displayed for auction in Accra.
The prices some patrons said scared them and this made the receiver unable to sell all vehicles.
Speaking to GhanaWeb on the sidelines of the event in Accra, spokesperson for the Receiver said “many factors were weighed-in on the pricingâ€.
According to her, unsold cars after the auctioning will be re-valued by the valuators and added to future auctions.
She explained that the vehicles were “valued by professional valuers. We got our values from STC and they came up with the figures. I believe that it is a free market and bidders are not obliged to patronize cars which are beyond their budget.â€
The Receiver of the collapsed 347 microfinance companies and 23 savings and loans and finance house companies set Monday, February 3 to Friday, February 7, 2020 to auction the first batch of used motor vehicles and motorbikes of the affected companies.
The vehicle brands include Toyota, Hyundai, KIA, Ford, among others.
The money the receiver makes from auctioning the vehicles will be used to pay the affected customers of the defunct companies.
A statement released by the receiver said the exercise is in accordance with its mandate to secure all assets of the affected companies and maximize their realizations for the benefit of creditors.
The Receiver of the 347 Micro-finance companies and 23 Savings and Loans and Finance houses, that faced insolvency last year, began successful auctions of vehicles recovered from some of the insolvent entities, in compliance to its core mandate.
The auction which is ongoing at the premises of the College of Physicians and Surgeons hall in Accra, began on Monday 3rd February and attracted a huge number of patrons, looking to outbid each other.
The spokesperson for the receiver confirmed that the numbers exceeded expectations but the receiver was adequately prepared to carry out the exercise in as professional a manner as possible.
The spokesperson further described as false, reports that were circulating about the exercise that sought to suggest that the results of the auction would have little or no impact on payments to customers.
“We have been paying depositors with validated and accepted claims for sometime now. We began paying depositors of the Micro-finance companies in June 2019 and Savings and Loans in August 2019 â€, Philomena Kuzoe clarified.
